Wild
by Beckon
Summary: It took him a few moments as he seemed to be forming words and sentences in his head before he decided to speak; his tongue sounding off different syllables and accents from the ancient voice.


**A/N: Suddenly, I found the inspiration to just... type. And I have the urge to type obscure couples that for some reason I decided to pair together and cannot seem to convince myself otherwise. I believe this is the part where I just like branching out from the norm and try out different styles with different couples. Vika and Volug are rarely seen characters, probably more like third-level characters and overshadowed by the first and secondary ones. How they act, I'm not really too sure on as she's just barely in the game but I try and I think I attempt to make an attempt at it. Just overall, kind of odd couple with an odd story but, I can't explain myself and I don't believe I will anytime soon. Not entirely romantic but then again, I don't really see this couple being too extreme with their 'feelings' and/or emotions.**

Whistling.

The air was whistling around her.

Her body arched and twisted through its free-fall as she felt her feathers give away to flesh and the majestic form of her Raven blood die to less than equal pints of 'Beorc' form. What had once been black feathers smoothed back in the rush of air was replaced with thick, tangled locks that whipped around her and almost encased her vision from the outside world.

And yet, she continued to spin and contort as her body fell victim to the rush of gravity that forced her towards the on-coming impact of the ground beneath her. The freedom of her Laguz half had been cut short and sold away to the slavery that made her a part of this weaker form; the one that fell guilty to the punishment of this rush.

As soon as it started it ended.

She hit the solid ground with enough force to send two or three of her ribs inward as they snapped freely from their host. Other short, yet blinding flashes of pain rocketed through her body and immobilized every control function in her; feeling as though it rendered every limb useless and unacceptable. This wasn't the first time she had fallen from such a height; it wasn't the first time she had broken her ribs; it wasn't the first time she had felt this pain in reaction. Still though, she was a victim to the sharp flood of pain that seemed to echo in the back of her head; she still hated the metallic taste of blood in her mouth too.

But at least her wings weren't broken.

And neither were her heels.

Groaning lightly, she felt the ground vibrate beneath her and slowly lifted her head to see what the commotion was. Her vision was blurred after just a few feet but she could make out the moving images of two swordsmen and one paladin. Excellent. Her body ached as she tried to force herself from the ground- listening to the sound of her ribs breaking in and out of place once more.

In a battle like this, she couldn't afford to stay still for too long- especially not in this defenseless form. Retreating wasn't exactly honorable but hell it was better than being dead.

She barely got herself to her forearms before she heard the sound of thundering feet behind her; in just seconds it seemed, a dark shadow covered her and partly shielded her from view. Her wings folded themselves against her back to fully hide beneath his much larger form- the threatening shape of a dark-furred Wolf, a sight that had not been seen for years now. His heavy feet shifted around her slightly as his form leaned forward at the approach of the enemy soldiers; she swore at the very depth of his throat, she could hear the rough beginnings of a low growl as his lips partly peeled back at the threat.

"You should really stop doing this, I might get used to it." she humored lightly as she pushed herself to rest against one hip; watching as the oncoming soldiers halted in their charge.

"_I thought you already had." _

She looked up at the comment and watched as the green-skinned Tiger slowly approached the scene from a different direction; pinning the three soldiers between his brute strength and the Wolf's cunning skills. A light chuckle left her as one hand reached up to ruffle her disheveled locks. "Just give me a few minutes to recuperate and I'll be back in the skies."

"_No need to, the enemy forces are breaking up and retreating; Queen Nailah is driving off the rest of them so these three are the only ones left in our grasps."_

"Well then… don't let me slow you down." she remarked; watching as the two Laguzs seemed to study their playing field before they both lunged forward with matching impacts. There was no reason for her to stick around in this condition as she forced herself to her feet; one hand touching at her bruised and sore side- she could feel the ribs shift underneath her fingers.

Retreating from the open-field battle, she listened to the faint echo of claws meeting steel before she disappeared into the surrounding forest line. She wasn't exactly sure where they were- in fact, she was sure no one knew where they were- but it was littered with perfect patches for battling and perfect places for retreating with the injured. Panting lightly, she tried to pace herself a bit more to keep the pain at a minimum and keep herself from overextending the injury too much. The close embrace of trees kept bumping into her wings and making the travel a bit more difficult to accomplish but the echo of familiar voices close by kept her going. It sounded like a majority of the army had regrouped, which was good seeing as they had been ambushed and separated from the start of the battle.

"Vika!"

She looked up at the call and watched as the black-haired healer from the Brigade waved at her to come towards her direction- she already had a few of the other brigade members in part bandages as she worked her way through the injuries. She had at first thought odd of the girl as the current situation seemed to render little against her enthusiasm but the more she spoke to her and the more they acknowledged one another, she changed her views. The girl was a healer who discriminated against no one; her philosophy was that if someone needed help then there was no reason why she should not assist them. They were all the same; they all bled and they all felt pain… nothing separated them.

"Are you hurt?" Laura questioned; spotting how the Raven favored one side more than the other.

"Ah, this? It's nothing serious. I just… I fell from the sky." she replied with a light shrug- which did not seem to phase the healer one bit.

"Here, just sit still and I'll heal it the best I can; I haven't healed broken bones ever since Aran got kicked by a horse this one time and that was years ago." she spoke with a light chuckle as she pulled her staff from where she had strapped it against her belt. Carefully focusing her energy into the light-blue orb at the end of the staff, she watched as the glass-like material lit up with bright waves that wavered in and out. Slowly but surely, the energy seemed to radiate off the orb and carefully mend itself into the woman's side; repositioning and rearranging her misplaced ribs before sealing them back into their previous places. "Alright, well hopefully that works and holds up; if it doesn't seem like it healed, just come back to me and I'll try some other methods."

"I think this will work just fine." Vika remarked as she touched at the newly healed side; there wasn't even the lightest sense of pressure or pain.

"Good, at least I know I managed to heal one person today." Laura smiled before she looked over as several more members of the Brigade showed up. "Oh goodness, here comes Nolan and Goddess knows how he gets in battle."

She watched as the girl hurried off to give away her medical services to the freshly injured members- despite their conditions they just seemed to laugh off their wounds and congratulate one another on yet one more successful battle. She wasn't entirely sure how long their winning streak was going to last though, the Begnion soldiers were getting stronger and arrived with more numbers with each passing day. It wasn't worth it to busy herself with the details or the incriminating thought that… they may not make it out. But that was absurd, they had Queen Nailah on their side- she was more than enough to get through this.

Perhaps she should stop worrying about such trivial matters and just worry on where Tormod and Muarim were now. And… perhaps Volug as well. The Wolf was an odd fellow, he never said much and when he did it was in the ancient tongue- which she knew a few words here or there, or at least enough to understand what he was trying to say. She didn't know why lately she had been so preoccupied with him but… it was a strange feeling. They only knew one another for a few days at most and yet, she swore it felt like there was this 'bond' between them. But hell… he was a free-bred Wolf who had the desert itself running through his veins; she was… nothing like that. Just a recycled and used shadow of what she could've been; her body broken down by the years of slavery and the cruelty that came along with it. They had nothing in common and besides, in a few days their paths would separate and she would more than likely never see him again.

It was nice to have a present time fling though; it was something to remind her that they were all still living and that they weren't just mindless drones in this aftermath of hatred.

"Vika." she turned at the call and watched as the green-skinned Tiger had reemerged in Beorc form now; his broad, taller form shadowed over her even from a few feet away. "Did you get yourself healed?"

She smiled lightly at that tone in his voice- despite his tough-guy appearance, she always thought he acted more like a kitty-cat than anything else. "Yeah, it wasn't anything major so there wasn't much to worry about from the beginning. But… you got this blood coming down the side of your head right there…" she watched as he touched at the blood as though he had never even realized it was there. "You might want to get that checked out…"

"I'll search for Tormod first and then get this looked at."

"True, the boss is probably around here somewhere, setting something on fire." she remarked lightly and watched as he walked off to find the red-headed Fire mage. She let a soft sigh escaped her as she ruffled up her thick locks once more before she pushed them from her face. It didn't take her long to notice that there was someone else near her as she looked up now to see the former Wolf now standing in Beorc form as well- a form he rarely used much. "Oh… I didn't even hear you sneak up on me."

Those dark, indescribable eyes of his seemed to slowly move themselves over her form as though to check for injuries himself; it took a few moments and a few look overs before he seemed willing to accept that she had no other wounds.

"So… I never really did thank you for… defending me back there." she started; wondering if he was really understanding here. "I mean, you've been protecting me plenty of times now and I really have yet to return the favor- so… I guess this is just one more tally to add to my tab that I'll hopefully be able to repay."

His expression remained stoic so she assumed that he understood what she was trying to half-say and piece together. Or at least hopefully he did.

"So uh… thank you."

It took him a few moments as he seemed to be forming words and sentences in his head before he decided to speak; his tongue sounding off different syllables and accents from the ancient tongue. And then… it was like he just decided to stop himself in mid-phrase. "I… We… protect ones… we care for."

"You… you can speak normal tongue then?" she questioned; watching as he shook his head in answer. "But you just… oh wait… you're learning? Just a few words?" he nodded this time. "Did… What do you mean by protect the ones 'we' care for?"

He slowly raised one hand and pointed it in her direction.

"Me?" she slowly repeated; pointing at herself which earned her another nod. "You… care for me?"

"Y…yes."

"_And like the white Wolf who fell for the white bird… the black wolf fell for the black bird." _


End file.
